Designing a Focused Summer: A 50-Minute Planning Workshop for Research Students Online
Designing a Focused Summer: A 50-Minute Planning Workshop for Research Students
Facilitated by visiting scholar, Peter Arthur, PhD, Professor of Teaching, University of British Columbia
Summer can offer students valuable time for research, writing, fieldwork, analysis, reading, and thesis or dissertation progress. But unstructured time can also be difficult to manage. Without a clear plan, even committed students can lose momentum.
In this 50-minute online workshop, students will use a planning process adapted from The Graduate: Summer 2026 to design a focused and realistic summer research plan. Participants will begin by visualizing what a meaningful summer of progress could look like, then identify one or two major academic goals using a SMART goal structure. From there, they will translate those goals into a weekly system, daily planning habits, and a simple reflection routine that helps them monitor progress and adjust when needed.
By the end of the session, participants will leave with a draft summer plan that includes a clear goal, weekly rhythm, daily work strategy, and reflection practice to support steady progress.
More about Dr. Peter Arthur
Peter Arthur, PhD, is a Professor of Teaching in the Faculty of Education at the University of British Columbia. His work focuses on self-regulated learning, metacognition, student success, and AI in education. He is the author of The Graduate: Summer 2026, a guided journal designed to help graduate students build structure, momentum, and reflection into independent academic work.